Teenager snubs Manchester United for English fifth division

Being an Arsenal fan, Manchester United has always been a rival; Sir Alex Ferguson against Arsene Wenger, Roy Keane against Patrick Vieria. I’ve always had a huge respect for the club or the club it once before the rough years following the departure of Fergie.

But despite my fandom, if Manchester United wanted to sign me I wouldn’t ask any questions. However, a teenager by the name of Idris Kanu had other ideas.

Kanu is a product the famed West Ham academy that has produced the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole, and Rio Ferdinand and had a trial at Manchester United where he balled out for the U18 side.

Oh, by the way, Idris Kanu is only 16 years old.

Instead of staying at the Manchester United academy, Kanu thought it was a good idea to pursue first-team football. For the love of God, why doesn’t someone instruct this kid on not being a complete dumbass?

Most likely being influenced by the likes of Karamoko Dembele and Mustafa Kapi, Kanu upped and left Manchester United hanging in order to take his talents to the English fifth division and Aldershot Town.

The boy wanted first-team football and found it, but I don’t agree with the decision, by any means.

I can’t say I know too much about the English fifth division, but I can assume that the level of play in the U18 side of Manchester United is probably higher. Playing first-team minutes is great, but do can they contribute all that much?

Being under the watchful eye of world-class United coaches could only help the boy improve that much more as a footballer.

5 footballers who never reached their full potential:

Ricardo Quaresma

The Portuguese winger had all the skill to propel himself to greatness, but found himself chasing Ronaldo's success. Quaresma, being about as loyal as Zlatan, has been everywhere in Europe since the fateful move to Barcelona from Sporting Lisbon and has struggled to find consistency. He's been solid throughout his career, but never has never found himself in elite company and has never lived up to the hype.
Source: Twitter

Freddy Adu

At 14 years old, Freddy Adu signed his first professional contract with DC United and was supposed to be the American Pele, win the World Cup, and make America proud. Too much pressure was put on the shoulders of the youngster and he subsequently failed. He's bounced around all over the world, but he now finds himself in Tampa Bay playing with Joe Cole. What are the odds?
Source: Twitter

Joe Cole

Oh, what could have been for Joe Cole. The Englishman was supposed to lead England to glory and was highly rated coming out of the West Ham academy. Although he gained moderate success, he could never live up to his billing as the next great English footballer. He drifted out of relevance and now finds himself in the American second division.
Source: Twitter

Robinho

The King of the stepover was supposed to be the best thing since the Samba to come out Brazil. Robinho made his high profile move to Real Madrid where he was underwhelming before moving to Milan and Manchester City. Depsite almost a century of appearances for Brazil, he never lived up to the incredibly high expectations. He floundered under the pressure and now plays in Brazil. At least he didn't end up like Adriano, right?
Source: Twitter

Andrei Arshavin

Being a Gunners fan, this one hurts. Following the 2008 Euro Cup and Russia's surprise run in the tournament, Arshavin was a hot commodity in the transfer window and Arsenal won the race to sign him...or did they? Arshavin was affective for half a season and by half a season I mean his 4 goal game against Liverpool. He slowly faded and Arsenal shipped his ass back to Mother Russia.
Source: Twitter

Here we see the other end of the spectrum of a young player that is obviously talented, but wants to rush the process of making the jump to the first team. A player like Christian Pulisic made his debut at 17 years old, but gradually worked his way up through the ranks of Borussia Dortmund.

You can’t rush the process, homie.

Idris Kanu could be a huge success in the lower leagues and slowly work his way up to the top flight or he could disappear and forever regret the decision to reject Manchester United.